Dallas Cowboys victory formation chat No. 1: Is that Doug Free?

Thanks for checking in for this Dallas Cowboys Victory Formation chat to discuss the "beauty" of their 16-10 win against Tampa Bay on Sunday.

Post your comment underneath and we can begin a discourse.

FACT: Of all the developments from Sunday’s game is the incredible continued “development” of Cowboys right tackle Doug Free. Against the Bucs, he had three false-start penalties and one holding penalty. That’s a bad month. 

It was in 2010 Free replaced Flozell Adams for the season and may have been the team’s best offensive lineman. Free was developing nicely. Then the Cowboys drafted Tyron Smith in ’11, and Free stayed on the left side until this offseason when he was moved back to his original right side.

On paper, Free should have an easier time on the right. But he looks lost, and over matched. He looks like a guy drafted in the fourth round from Northern Illinois.

Watching Martellus Bennett's brother pick up Free and drive him into the quarterback was very Reggie White-ish. And I'm fairly certain NO ONE is going to confuse Michael Bennett for Reggie White.

This is a major problem for an offensive line that already has serious issues in the middle, and if it continues this way for a few more weeks is going to get Tony Romo killed. This is not a team that can afford to keep Jason Witten and John Phillips into block every play to bail out the edge of their line.

ALTERNATIVE: Zero. Get better. The Cowboys are not going to move Smith back to the right and Free back to the left. And they are not going to promote reserve Jermey Pernell.

 

@MacEngelPro
tengel@star-telegram.com

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Comments

[Chris]

Is Erik Williams available? He would at least give you a tough street fight, even at 44 years old. We need o-line warriors.

We have the Michelin Men - big, soft, and friendly.

[The Big Mac Blog]

I like your idea of bringing back Erik Williams. He was nasty and pretty dirty. Maybe he can bring a tire iron and see how that works out.

[Chris]

I think he keep a tire iron in that massive left arm "elbow guard" he sported...

When you don't use high draft picks on the line, this is what you end up with - a small school spare at tackle and recycled guards with low-speed motors.

[Freytrain]

It's unfair to pick on just Free, Smith is having penalties too. It is more difficult than you think to move from one side to the other and both are having difficulty with it. Also the lack of communication with this line is amazing, they are not working as one unit at all. This is a coaching problem more than a line problem... Not the head coach the oline coach and he should be fired.

[Chris]

Freytrain - fully agree with you. They are not working well together at all. Plus, this group was thrown together over the summer. When you shake up spare parts in a garage, don't expect a BMW to drive out. The Cowboys spend money on 200 lbs players, not 330 lbs players. And THAT is a GM problem...